The Heartbreak Factor - Part Four

Chapter Twenty-Four.

The sound of complete silence in the house was soon replaced with the sound of a squawking baby - my niece. As Katy laid in her cot, playing with her teddies to occupy herself before it was time to wake up, I rolled over and looked at George, who was smirking at me. 

“I really do not miss that sound,” George grinned as I smiled at him. 

“Katy didn’t really cry much though,” I replied. 

“Mummy!” Katy screeched, responding to the sound of her name.

“Do we pretend we’re still asleep or..?” George whispered as he peered above the duvet in the direction of Katy’s cot. “I mean, we could catch another hour sleep. It’s only 6am.”

“But it’s Christmas!” I giggled as I sat up in bed with excitement. 

“This is coming from you who hits me whenever I cough before 9am?” George paused. 

“Yes, but it’s Christmas. It only comes around once a year so I’m going to make the most of it.”

“You’re such a kid,” George grinned as he sat up in bed, watching me as I clambered out from beneath the duvet and crept across my old bedroom floor to pick up Katy, who was stood up, holding onto the side of her cot, waiting for me. 

“Shall we go wake up nanny and grampy?” I smiled to Katy as she clung onto the straps of my pyjama top. “I’m sure they’ll love to have you jump up and down on them.”

“Yeah!” Katy beamed.

I looked at George, who was still snuggled beneath the covers. “Coffee?” 

“Please,” George smiled, still looking sleepy as he let out a huge yawn.

Carrying Katy, I walked out of my old room and down the corridor towards my mum and Michael’s bedroom. I couldn’t help but giggle to myself as I walked past the guest room’s shut door, listening to Luke and Hayley as they tried to settle their daughter down. I was so glad that Katy took after me with her sleeping habits as a baby and preferred to be asleep rather than being awake. 

Instead of doing the polite thing of knocking on their bedroom door and waiting for a response to open it, I walked straight in and let Katy’s Christmas grin make up for my rudeness. 

“Good morning cheeky!” mum laughed, holding out her hands to Katy as she sat up in bed, drinking a cup of tea.

“Katy, what do you need to say to nanny and grampy?” I smiled, putting Katy down on the foot of their bed. 

“Happy..” Katy paused as she looked back at me with a look of confusion written across her tiny face. “Christmas!”

“Good girl!” Michael grinned, ruffling her hair up as she crawled in-between them and made herself comfortable in the duvet. 

“Has Luke and Hayley managed to settle baby Sarah down?” mum asked as she ran her fingers through Katy’s short brown hair, looking over at me as I sat down on the end of the bed.

I nodded. “I think she’s stopped crying now but when I walked past the guest room door, I could hear them muttering to her so I think she’s awake for now.”

“Looks like it’s going to be a long Christmas for us then,” Michael commented as he closed the lid of his laptop and placed it on the bedside table. “I wonder what presents Father Christmas has brought for Katy this year.”

“Pony!” Katy beamed. 

Mum and Michael looked at me. “A pony?” mum asked. 

“I’ve told her she’s too young to even think about getting a pony but ever since JJ took her to the racecourse to watch some of his old jockey friends on their horses, she’s been going on about ponies,” I explained.